ITALY

Hey there!
So I just got back from an amazing but exhausting weekend in Italy with my friend Kristin. I’m actually watching the movie about The Doors, which my host mom is also watching, as I can here her singing along to “Light My Fire”, haha, so cute. So yeah, I’ve been up to a lot since my last post…here it goes! Thursday night ended up being a really random but fun night. I came over to Kristin’s house to meet her and convince her to go to Le Mixe (the club from the week before), and sat with her while she finished up a really late dinner (she has class til 9 Thursdays). We were in her little kitchen, which has a pretty big window facing a bunch of other apartment buildings that form a kind of square. Anyways, we were sitting and talking, when we noticed that in one of the apartments right across from us there was a party or something going on, with several people standing by the window talking and smoking. They noticed us, and immediately started waving at us to come over, which we found hilarious, so after much giggling I opened the window and waved back. One of the guys started telling us his cell phone number, as quietly as possible as it’s a pretty quiet neighborhood, so we wrote it down and gave them a call. They gave us the code and number of their building, and we were feeling adventurous, so off we went to find the party, figuring if it was lame or sketchy we could always bail and head over to Le Mixe. When we got there, we called the guy’s cell, and he let us in. It ended up being really fun, it was a bunch of french students studying in the same business school together, they were really friendly, and had fun asking us about life in America and such. They were all our age, just hanging out in this guy’s apartment talking and relaxing. After quite a while, everyone headed out; a few of them went on to find a dance club on the Champs-Elysees, but Kristin and I decided to stay by her house and head to the Bar Cristal to get a drink and laugh about it all. Hopefully we will see them again at some point-they gave us a flyer to this really big Halloween party they’re planning to go to, that is organized by the university, sounds like it will be really cool. Anyways, since it was too late to catch the metro, I spent the night at Kristin’s place, where she has an extra bed in her room, and headed out early the next morning to get all ready to leave for Italy...such a random night.
So Friday afternoon it was off to Italy! Getting there was a bit tricky, as I took a bus to Porte Maillot, caught a shuttle to the Aeroport Beauvais (which took a little over an hour), where we then caught our plane to the Pisa airport. We arrived without problems, and at the airport I even saw a friend (Emily May) from Chapel Hill High! It was too crazy, I said hello and we chatted a bit, she was with a group of students from Davidson, who are studying in Tours-they did exactly the opposite of what we did, starting in Paris for a couple weeks and then heading to Tours for the semester (we definitely have the better setup). But anyways, as I said it was pretty crazy to see her, we were on the same flight and such. So Kristin and I got into Pisa at around 8pm, and then we caught a bus to Florence (which took another hour and a half). Finally, we arrived in Florence, and set out with our guide book to find the hostel I booked. Fortunately, it was just a short walk from the station, so we checked in and left our stuff to go find a place to eat. We soon found a delicious pizza place, where we ate our first Italian meal, complete with white wine, delicious. By the time we finished dinner it was pretty late, and we were both tired, so we headed back to the hostel to get some rest so we could get up early on Saturday. The hostel was descent-only 13 euro a night, yes!, and we had our own room and a private bathroom, good deal. We stayed up talking for a bit, and eventually went to sleep.
The next morning we got up early, and got some breakfast included in the hostel. Then it was off for a day of wandering, the first stop being “Le Duomo”, the cathedral Santa Maria, including the Cupola del Duomo, the domed ceiling of the cathedral covered in a painting by Brunelleschi depicting various scenes of the last judgement. We climbed all the way up to the top, over 400 steps, to catch one of the most beautiful views of Florence, it was really amazing (and also very tiring). We also visitied les Cappelle Medicee, which was huge, and really beautiful inside and out. Afterwards we went and saw a museum/former palace of one of the greatest families in Italy (I think it was called the Palazzo Vecchio), running into a huge student protest on the way. Apparently the government is doing something that raises university prices a lot, we weren’t entirely sure what was going on…but yeah it was pretty cool, there were so many people marching, with Bob Marley blaring in the background. Anyways, we then headed over to la Galleria dell’Accademia, where we saw David and all sorts of other paintings and sculptures. Then it was time for lunch, so we stopped at another pizza place to rest and eat, delicious, and then heading toward the river, walking through a beautiful piazza littered with statues, including the fountain of Neptune. We then reached the Ponte Vecchio, and crossed it, checking out the many jewelry stores as we passed (too expensive for us!). Then it was time for some gelato, so we each grabbed a cone and sat on the wall boarding the river. After talking and resting for a while, we went off to discover what was on the other side of the bridge, including the Palazzo Pitti, and a few more churches I know forget the name of. By the time we were finished, it was getting late, so we headed back in the direction of the hostel, at this point pretty exhausted. We stopped by the station to check out train times, and then grabbed our bags at the hostel and got ready to go. Then it was off to Pisa, and an hour and a half train ride later we arrived.
Upon arriving at the Pisa Central Station, it was time to find our hostel; I had directions for the bus, but we were feeling adventurous (and impatient) and decided to save a couple euro and walk there. Unfortunately, our hostel was just off the map we had, but we knew the general location and figured we could find it. So off we went, traversing Pisa, stopping about half-way to find dinner. We both got pasta, and finished with some amazing Tiraimasu. The service was really slow, and by the time we finished it was already approaching midnight. On we went, walking in the general direction of the hostel, until we started to get out into the residential area. There was no one around, and pretty soon we were lost…without a map, tired, and of course Kristin had to go to the bathroom. Fortunately, we stumbled across a friendly Italian couple, who gave us directions through pointing and repetitions of the street name (they didn’t speak english, sigh), and off we went in what we hoped was the right direction. Unfortunately, not so much. We walked farther and farther, and were getting pretty nervous…I tried to call the hostel, but couldn’t get it to work with my french cell phone. Finally, as we were deciding to walk back all the way to the city center, we noticed an older couple and two others standing outside their house. We rushed over, asking if they spoke English, and then asking if they knew the name road we were looking for. To our surprise, they responded yes, they knew the road, as we were on it! Lots of “Gratzi” later, we were off in the right direction, and easily found our hostel just a short walk away, what a relief! It also just so happened that the owner pulled up right as we arrived, so he was able to let us in and get us all situated. He was really nice, and gave us a map, marking the important landmarks and the bus stations we would need. Then it was off to bed, as we were both exhausted.
The next morning we slept in a bit later, as we hadn’t reached the hostel until about 1am, and had both agreed we would take it slower on Sunday, since there’s really not a whole lot to see in Pisa besides the mean square with the leaning tower and such. So off we went to find the square, stopping for a snack on the way, and then we arrived at the tower! It was really cool, very pretty, and of course we had to get the obligatory pictures of us pretending to hold it up. We then checked out the cathedral, also very beautiful, and then went and found a gelato place to sit and hang out for a bit. As we sat, we looked at the map the hostel owner had given us, and noticed that there was a bus tour of Pisa that left right by where we were. Since we were carrying our bags and such with us, the bus tour sounded perfect, so we climbed aboard, sitting at the top to get some fresh air and the best views. It was really nice, the weather was incredible, and it was cool to hear some of the history of Pisa, and see parts of it that would otherwise have been too far. Afterwards, it was time to find the bus to take us to the airport, which we found with ease thanks to our handy map. We made it to the airport with plenty of time, oh the marvels of public transportation, and then it was back to Paris. It was an amazing trip, as I said very tiring, hopefully I will get to go back to Italy at some point, it’s such a great country, and see Rome, Venice, etc.
Alors, voila! That was Italy, and now it’s back to class for the week. I love walking around in Paris right now, it’s getting a bit colder, and feels really fresh and nice out…perfection. Phew, I think that was my longest post yet! Will write again soon, much love,
Brit